the lost princess
by crepusculumAmor
Summary: Long ago the great kingdom of the elves was decided by power and greed, there is a prophecy that two souls will come together to reunite their people. Not all want this to come to pass. Join Neave as she is flung headfirst into a world of magic where she discovers her life and destiny are not what they seem
1. Chapter 1

**18 years ago**

Her dark curls bellowed behind her as she flew through the dark forest on her faithful horse, her newborn baby tight at her chest. Her heart hammered in her chest, her sharp elven ears straining to hear if she was being pursued. As the trees flashed past her, her mind flew back to the previous hour.

"you must go Namir" the young elf said desperately with tears streaming down her pale moonlit face. "there is no time"  
"I cannot let you do this , they will come for you" said the terrified elf clutching her newborn daughter  
"my child is already gone, do not let her death be in vain. I have done the spell the mark looks convincing enough to buy you some time. It is her they want you must get her to safety"  
"I owe you my daughters life lessa I.." The young women began through tears  
"there is no time!go befoe they realise their mistake, I will be fine"  
Namir launched herself on her midnight black steed and with one lingering look to her friend cradling the body of her just born daughter, fled into the night.

Nylessa lay exhausted under the branches of the large oak watching her friend fade into the night. She did not know how much Time passed until she heard the beat of hooves, she was too consumed In her grief. She heard the voices "there" said a gruff voice. She tightened her hold on her baby as Vaylan stepped forward "you are too late she is gone. Wont you leave me to my grief" She was restrained by two strong sets of arms as he ignored her plea's, tearing her baby from her arms. She thought she saw a flash of pity in his eyes but it was quickly gone. "it is the child" he said  
"are you sure Vaylan, if we are wrong he will be beyond furious"  
"see for yourself Elrod" he said pulling the silver blankets further exposing a mark over the child's heart that looked like a teardrop over a hill. Both elves loosed there grip on the young women and leaned forward. "it would appear so" said Elrod his blue eyes hard.  
"you have your proof" Nylessa Said through tears "please let me bury my daughter" The grips on her arms tightened once again. She watched Vaylan closely and saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes as he hesitated.  
"Vaylan" barked the previously silent elf "he will want to see the child with his own eyes"  
"I am his brother my word will be taken as truth. We have all seen the mark"  
Erod began "even so I ..."  
"this woman has lost her child as she knew would happen the moment she looked upon her face, I see no reason why she should not bury her as she sees fit. Be thankful we did not have to kill a child this night"  
With that her arms were released as he handed her back the still child. He turned and mounted his horse with one last unreadable look at the child he fled into the night the other elves close behind

Nylessa dropped to her knees tears streaming down her pale face, she looked at her daughter a She sat under the tree until she heard hooves approach. A tall fair haired elf jumped from his horse and she threw herself into his arms.  
"is it done?"  
"yes it is, I only hope that she got there in time" she said  
"as do we all my love" he replied  
He looked down at the body of his daughter, even now the mark upon her pale chest was beginning to fade. He looked into his wives tear filled eyes, his own eyes full of sorrow  
"it is up to nimir now, come let us bury our daughter"

Nimir's heart hammered in her chest as her keen elf eyes searched for the tree from upon her horse. With a sigh of relief she Saw the large oak infront of her. It was almost the same as all the others except that the leaves glimmered silver in the shafts of moonlight that filtered through the trees. She climbed down off her horse and walked up to the tree, the air around it shimmered with magic. She looked down at her beautiful daughter asleep in her arms, she murmered a spell under her breath and pressed a finger to her forehead. When she moved her finger the Childs ears had changed from the pointed ears of an elf to the rounded ears of a human. She touched the necklace round her daughters neck that matched her birthmark, a teardrop atop a hill. A tear slipped down her pale face onto her daughters forehead. "I love you my daughter, I have to do this or they will kill you. I know in my heart we will meet again. Goodbye Nerida, good luck" with tears streaming down her face and sorrow heavy in her heart she placed her swaddled baby next to the tree and watched as she disappeared through the portal to another world.  
essa


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Present day

Bright beams of sun shone down on the rolling green hills of the countrysid as Neave walked to her usual thinking spot. She enjoyed a morning walk over the lush fields behind her house towards the woods, it helped her clear her head. This morning's walk was needed after yet another argument with her mother over the subject of her leaving hone now she was 18. Neave felt she wanted to spread her wings a bit but her parents did not agree, they did on agree on very much at the moment. She knew her parents loved her but I was never quite the same after the twins were born.

Neave was adopted after she was found as a newborn baby abandoned in this very wood with only the strange silver necklace she never took off and a silver blanket embroidered with an N. Her mother was told she couldn't have children but when Neave was but 5 years old she discovered she was pregnant with twins. She knew her parents tried hard to treat all their children the same but Neave knew she unnerved them. Neave was a strange girl, things just seemed to happen around her, it often rained when she was upset or angry even when the skies were previously clear. When she helped her mother in the garden things always grew much quicker and more lush than before and the fruit was always better. She also often had dreams which came true, it was this which unsettled her parents most. At first when she was young it was small things like telling her mother the weather or who was coming to visit, but then she told her she was pregnant a few days before she found out. That made her look at Neave slightly differently however after she told her that she was having a boy and a girl and when they would arrive that they began to become slightly wary. Despite her young age it didn't take long for Neave to notice the look of something near to fear in their eyes when she relayed her dreams and so she stopped telling them.

Neave sighed as she walked closer to the woods she loved so much, she absentmindedly played with her necklace as she walked. It was a strange necklace that was shaped like a raindrop atop a mountain with a blue stone at the tip of the raindrop, an amber one in the centre of the mountain and a purple stone that looked like it had been split in half, in the middle where the shapes met. She had spent many an hour trawling the Internet, looking for jewellery similar in the hopes it would give her a clue as to who her birth parents were. She never found anything remotely similar, even after trying the local jewellers. The owner got rather excited by her necklace after he couldn't determine what the purple stone was and asked her to sell it. After that she put it onto a longer chain so it couldn't be seen from under her clothes.

The tall tress swayed in the light morning breeze as Neave passed under their canopy and into the wood. She loved it here and would often get lost in a daydream that she was in another world when she walked through the peaceful greenery. Her father called her his little dreamer as she spent most her her time with her head in the clouds or nose stuck in a book. When she was younger she would often imagine her real parents would come for her and whisk her away to a magical land. These daydreams filteredtheir way into her dreams at night too, she was always dreaming of far away lands an magical creatures. Latel alot of her dreams consisted of the same dark haired man on horse back, whose face she would promptly fotget upon waking. The birds sang in the trees and squirrels hurried up into the tall trunks as she passed by. As she made her way to the spot she liked by a small stream she began to get the feeling she was being watched but brushed it off. She carried on off the track picking her way through the undergrowth but the further she got into the wood the more the feeling of uneasiness that had taken up residence in her stomach grew.

"Don't be ridiculous Neave, theres nobody here" she scolded herself out loud.

"great and now I'm talking to myself"

She walked warily towards the stream listening intently to the wood around her, she heard a twig snap and spun around, her eyes searching for the noise. Her heart hammered in her chest, fear running through her veins as she heard a low growl and watchedin terror as a huge wolf the size of a bear walked into her view. It had fur as back as night with a strange glint of blue, its massive mouth was bared to reveal huge razor sharp teeth, its hackles were raised and its crazed orange eyes were watching her intently from where it stood. Fear rooted her to the spot, her mind unable to decide her next move. She panicked and ra as she heard thefeirce growl of the beast close on her tail. Tthe sharp tree branches cut into her skin as she flew through the forest, her hair flying behind he, she was grateful she at least tryef to keep fit. She knew it was futile to run from a normal size wolf and this one was so big she knew it would be on her in a matter of seconds but she didn't know what else to do. Suddenly Neave heard panicked voices and shouting, it distracted her and she lost her footing falling to the ground. Hurriedly she scrambled to her feet and turned, her back hitting a tree as she watched the wolf come to a stop mere feet from her. A mans voice came from close by

"don't move"

She watched the beast whip its head in the direct of the voice as it let out a low guttural growl, its hackles raised. As she followed its gaze she saw a tall dark haired man dressed in strange green and brown clothes, he looked like he had stepped out of a robin hood film complete with a bow in his hand. He was shockingly hansom with long dark hair pinned at the base of his neck, then she noticed a woman not far behind him and two more figures off to the side of the wolf, what on earth was going on! She watched in terror as the man raised his bow, the woman behind raised her hands and in the same second the wolf lunged towards her, she instinctively threw her hands up in front of her face. As she felt sharp claws against the skin of her shoulder she felt a strange energy pulse in her hands. Just as the wolf was about to land on top of her a strange bolt of blue energy erupted from them, hitting it in the chest and sending it flying back 6 feet into the trunk of a giant elm which shuddered with the impact. Neave was staring so intently at her hands trying to understand what on earth had just happened that she hardly noticed the commotion going on around her. At the same time that the wolf had made a lunge for Neave the man with the bow had released an arrow at it, the woman behind began to move toward it hands still raised as the air seemed to vibrate around her. Now all four of the figures leapt into action, the two men who appeared later ran towards the stunned wolf, producing chains that looked no where near strong enough to hold it as they went. The woman ran towards Neave and the man who spoke to her stood looking between her and the wolf with a conflicted look on his hansom face before running to help apprehend it. As the men deftly wrapped chains round the wolf it began to struggle and growl. Neave looked down at her shoulder and saw that her shirt was in tatters and blood poured down her arm, she felt suddenly faint and then the frantic conversation that she barely noticed began.

"what do we do with the girl" yelled one of the men above the growls as he struggled to keep hold of his chain

"you must both get back to the portal Nathandul , we don't know how long the spells will hold. Nirah and I will deal with the girl and follow behind"

"what will you do Vlad? You realise you must bring her" said Nathandul

"I must do nothing, I will sort it"

"but you saw what she did.."he began

" I said I will sort it now go" Vlad replied sharply

As the two men rushed of with a struggling wolf in tow Vlad turned and looked at the young women who had now collapsed against the tree. There was something unnervingly familiar about her and how on earth could a human posses such powers, he wondered as his brow furrowed.

"Vlad I could use some help here" shouted Nirah from her position crouched by the girls side, this snapped him out of his thought and he moved towards them.

As Neave stared intently at her hands she began to feel a searing pain in her left shoulder and she felt rather light headed, she slumped against the tree her heart still pounding in her chest as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"you are hurt" said the young woman whom she had seen, was it mere minutes before?

"I am fine" said Neave as she tried to stand and fell back down.

"it wasn't a question it was an observation, now let me see" said the women.

as she pulled back the hand Neave was using to cover her shoulder she studied her face. She had dark hair that fell in waves down her slim back, her features were petit in her pale slim face much like Neave's, she looked very familiar. As Neave tried to place why, she was distracted by the audible gasp that escaped her lips. Before she had chance to ask what was wrong there was somebody else by her side, did she just call him Vlad, what a strange name. she was caught by a wave of dizziness and barely heard the whispered conversation going on as she fought not to pass out.

"Vlad we must take her back with us the poison is already in her system, there is little I can do" Nirah said as she quickly wiped away some of the blood coming from the wound. Neave closed her eyes and bit her tongue as she felt liquid poured over the wound, Nirah tried to distract her as she worked.

"I'm Nirah" she said

"Neave" she replied through gritted teeth as she watched Vlad hand Nirah strips of cloth, she shut her eyes again as she felt pressure as the wound was bound to stem the bleeding.

"we cannot take a human over its not safe" he said into her ear as he looked down into the unnervingly familiar face below him. As he looked at her he noticer the strange birthmark and his hand instinctively flew to the same place on his own chest where his mark lay. As he tried to not show Nirah what he had noticed she looked into his eyes her own growing wide as she pieced the pieces together quickly in her mind.

"no it cannot be" she gasped looking down at Neave with a shocked look on her face.

"no it is not" he began before she cut him off

"look at the mark Vlad and you saw her power. We have no choice she must come or you know her fate"

"he looked at her torn between leaving her to die and taking her back to an uncertain fate. Neave fought back the nausea and said

"wait go where with you what is going on"

"you must trust us we will help you but we must go now" said Nirah as she helped Neave to her feet. As she stumbled Vlad grabbed her hand and instantly Neave felt as though she had received an electric shock and images began to flash though her mind. A woman flying through the forest on a horse, a woman crying holding a baby boy, herself and Vlad hands entwined under a full moon. Then as quick as it came it was gone, she looked up at him as he drew back from her and she could see in his piercing green eyes he had seen the same. As she went to ask him he said

" come we must go" .

She stumbled and he picked her up, she braced herself as heat ran through her body and a strange feeling of familiarity and safety swam through her and the same image of the two of the under the moon flashed though her mind. She felt him tense as it happened and again before she could speak he spoke.

"Nirah can you find it? Quickly"

"yes give me a minute" she said

as they moved at speed through the forest at what seemed to be a ridiculous speed, Neave was very aware of the searing pain that came in waves through her shoulder.

Their speed slowed and Neave opened her eyes to see yet more forest around her, she was vaguely aware of Nirah whispering strange words she couldn't understand and the air seemed to crackle around her. She looked up at Vlad's face as he searched intently for something in the trees ahead.

"there" he said with relief

As she followed his gaze she swore she could see the air ahead between two large trees shimmer, she looked back at his face. Were his ears pointed! She was clearly disoriented from blood loss.

"Ready?" Asked Nirah

"As I'll ever be" replied vlad, glancing down at Neave.

"hold on" he said, his grip on her tightening as he stepped into the shimmering air between the two trees.


End file.
